A new coalition that includes the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Realtors and County Auditors Association of Ohio is advocating for wider reform of the oldest tax Ohio has on its books: the real property tax.
The effort comes as lawmakers say over and over that “skyrocketing” property taxes are an issue constituents are calling regularly about. So far this legislative session, they have proposed nearly 30 bills addressing property tax problems, some that are bipartisan and some that are not.
A study from 2024 commissioned by the Chamber, the Ohio Tax Benchmarking Analysis, found Ohio’s overall state and local tax burden is in the middle of the pack when it comes to peer states, but that Ohio ranks second for “most burdensome” local taxes. Texas came in first.
Tom Zaino, the state’s former tax commissioner who is now with the Ohio Taxpayer Protection Coalition, said Wednesday he believes some of that comes from school districts taking advantage of property owners with rising property valuations.
“If (voters) want to increase taxes on themselves, that’s fine,” Zaino said in an interview. ”It’s these unvoted taxes where the coalition has major concerns in which we think the General Assembly can certainly address.”
Cities and towns can levy taxes on property to fund different programs in more than one way, like through renewal levies and replacement levies. Though they sound similar, replacement levies factor in properties’ rising valuations, unlike renewal levies, which go off of properties’ values when the initial levy went through.
With a replacement levy, even voting to extend a levy at its original rate might result in slightly higher taxes. Additionally, the state subsidizes renewal—but not replacement—levies through 10% rollback reimbursements.
The Ohio House voted in March to get rid of replacement levies all together, legislation Zaino lauded. “Voters are confused. They don’t understand the differences,” he said.
House Bill 28 is now in the Senate.
More recently, the House budget included a 30% ceiling on money public school districts could carry over each year, which lawmakers have billed as direct relief but schools have taken a strong stance against.
The Ohio Taxpayer Protection Coalition has not yet taken a side on that measure, Zaino said.
The two recent efforts received little to no backing from the Democrats, who sit in the minority. In the past, caucus leaders have pointed to different priorities, such as freezing property taxes for low-income seniors or placing a circuit breaker on taxes once they hit a percentage of a person’s income.
